Relativism In International Business

International operations have several ethical implications and many are rooted in the political systems of the countries the business is being done in. Ethics refers to accepted principles of right and wrong that govern the conduct of a person or the actions of an organization (Hill, 2008). In cultural relativism, the belief is that ethics are culturally determined and that firms should adopt the ethics of the cultures in which they operate (Hill, 2008). The question is, if it breaks no laws, is it really unethical and whether an action is right or wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced. The same action may be morally right in one society but be morally wrong in another. With the blurred lines that cultural relativism has, it opens the doors for corruption in international business. Even the best-informed and intentioned executives must rethink their moral compass about business practice in foreign settings. I am neither …show more content…
Creating a plan to help me along would be the best option and the easiest to follow for the rest of my life. I have five checks and balances for myself and for business, be it international or domestic, these checks would apply to all of them. First is the need to understand clearly what the ethical behavior and the profound ethical influences are for me personally. By knowing the sources of my ethical background, family, education, religion, culture, these would help me identify ethical issues as they arise. The second step is understand the businesses decision making process. Sometimes ethical issues can be forgotten or not incorporated into a business decision. Implementing a decision making process that requires ethics to be considered with every decision will help promote the ethical standards of the business. This will help avoid any ethical issues that myself or others might not have seen at